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11 Investigation runs parallel to farming in Grave Seasons. To find the supernatural serial killer hiding among the townsfolk, the player searches for clues, digs into residents' lives, and tries to stay one step ahead of the next murder. See The Murder Mystery for the wider killer system.
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44 Searching For Clues
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66 After a murder, the player can collect clues from the scene and the surrounding area, including the woods and other locations around town. Investigating the unique townsfolk helps uncover the dark truth behind the killings. Every resident has a home, a schedule, and secrets, and the game actively encourages the player to go digging for them.
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88 Common clue and evidence types observed in early demos include:
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1010 Worry dolls left at crime scenes.Hemlock leaves and other poisonous-plant traces.Photographs tucked into private rooms and drawers.Blood trails leading from victims into the surrounding woods.
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1212 A dedicated interactables button highlights nearby objects worth examining, so the player can sweep a room or scene quickly while moving through it.
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14+The public hands-on demo showed this in action. The mayor is found dead in his office, and the player moves through the scene collecting the clues strewn around it before piecing together what happened.
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1416 Breaking And Entering
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1618 Uncovering secrets sometimes means getting into places the player is not invited. A crowbar, which sits under a Crime category in the player's tools, is used to break into locked homes and spaces.
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1820 When the player approaches a locked door with the crowbar equipped, a lockpicking icon appears and triggers a timing minigame. A needle slides back and forth across a meter, and the player must click when it crosses a sweet spot. The same minigame is reused from Fishing and Mining, with the difficulty scaling up as the quality of the lock improves.
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2022 Snooping carries real social risk. Townsfolk remember being broken in on, the player's relationship with them takes a hit, and the developers have noted that things can get awkward in conversation afterward. Because the player character is an escaped convict, getting caught too many times can lead to arrest and a return to prison, ending the run.
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2224 Confronting Suspects
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2426 Dialogue with the townsfolk includes the ability to confront residents with accusations about the murders. Combined with the clues gathered around town and inside homes, these conversations are part of how the player narrows down who the supernatural serial killer is.
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2628 Protecting Victims
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2830 Identifying the killer is only part of the task. If the player works out who the next victim will be, that person can be protected before they are harmed. Saving someone who would otherwise have died branches the story in a completely different direction and changes the evidence available, making the investigation an active force in how the year plays out rather than a fixed sequence.
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3032 No Police Option
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3234 As an escaped convict, the player has no police to call. The murders are theirs to solve, with no outside law enforcement available to take the case. See The Player Character for the protagonist's background.